With Chris Seeby having joined Eugene Ofori and Scott Orphanou on the exit route out of Chestnut Avenue, Mark Barnham’s Northwood side was also hit by injuries with Bobby Smith, Aaron Cato and Ryan Tackley joining Brad Hewitt on the sidelines, while Anthony Page was ill.

It meant a return between the sticks for Mitch Swain, after a brief sojourn playing for Bedfont Green, while John Sonuga returned to the defence. Just three players were named on the subs bench, and all of them were yet to make their first-team debuts for the Woods.

So, considering the patched-up nature of the starting eleven, the Woods made a pleasing start to this scrap at Scraley Road, competing well from the off and showing a real appetite to maintain their outside chance of making the end-of-season play-offs.

Leon Osei and Hugo Figueiredo both showed some good early progress with their pace and skills but, as in the midweek cup defeat at Uxbridge, there still seemed a reluctance to try their luck in front of goal.
It was Heybridge who had the first real chances to score. Tom Broadhurst had shot narrowly wide after just four minutes but five minutes later, the skilful Russell Malton, back from Colchester United for a second loan-spell, raced onto a through-ball and got past Swain only to see his goalbound shot cleared off the line by the covering Danny Power.

Swain then claimed a Broadhurst header at a corner, but it was the Woods who took the lead after 19 minutes. Harry Smart battled well to win the ball centrally and then played a neat ball wide to Kyle Matthews. He raced down the left and knocked in a low cross to the near post, which Figueiredo controlled well and then fired home with an unstoppable shot on the turn from eight yards. It was the winger’s first goal since the end of September.

The lead lasted only eight minutes, though, as some good work from Malton and then a long ball forward caught out the Woods defence and Perry Sansford finished well with a neat chip over Swain.

The Woods battled back, with Osei continuing to cause problems for the Swifts defence and when Sonuga headed a free-kick back across goal, Figueiredo perhaps should have done better than float his own header over the crossbar. The half finished with Matthews hitting a shot on the turn which forced goalkeeper Jamie Bowyer into a save low down.

Chances continued to be few and far between, though, and Northwood felt they should have been awarded a penalty after 51 minutes when a cross from Power was blocked by the hand of Barber, but those claims were waved away. This was during the Woods’ best spell of play, and some good approach play ended with a Matthews strike wide of the target.

After 63 minutes another attack saw Figueiredo and Power combine to send Matthews cutting in from the left, but his shot was saved at the near post and then a cross from Power was headed towards goal by Smart but without the power to test Bowyer.

Two minutes later Osei surged forward again and fed Matthews out wide. This time his cross was met by John Christian bursting through from midfield, but his flicked header flashed the wrong side of the post.
Having survived that period of pressure, Heybridge enjoyed the better of the final stages. Nathan Smith’s header towards goal from a corner was well cleared away by the high-leaping Sonuga before the Swifts were given a golden opportunity by a poor refereeing decision.

Malton made another good attacking run but had pushed the ball too far into the box, and Swain clearly pushed the ball away before the attacker took a tumble and fooled Referee Tony Goddard into pointing to the spot. Reece Morgan stepped up to take the penalty but Swain guessed right, diving to his left to palm the ball away and keep the scores level.

The Woods introduced Daryl Campbell-Grimshaw into the frame for Harry Smart, the substitute becoming the first double-barrel named player to play for the club, but he saw little action as the Swifts finished the game on top. Their only real chance in the closing-stages, though, came after 88 minutes when Mark Crick got the better of Power on the left and sent over a good cross which fellow substitute Adam Brotherton flicked over the bar from close-range.

Report by ALAN EVANS

Photos by James Brown